Akainu, who had just been happy about becoming Fleet Admiral, suddenly froze in his seat. Not only Akainu, but the other Marines also showed surprised expressions upon hearing the words of the Five Elders. What did they just hear?
What is your face worth?
So, even the Fleet Admiral of the Marines has no face in front of the Five Elders?
Everyone couldn't help but look at Akainu, and Akainu felt the gaze of the others. Being scolded like this after becoming Fleet Admiral and being looked at by the other Marines made him feel a bit embarrassed.
Akainu suppressed his dissatisfaction and continued to look at the projection.
"You Marines are nothing more than the face of the World Government. This matter will be handled by the World Government's CP directly," said the Five Elders in the projection.
Akainu felt frustrated upon hearing the words of the Five Elders, but he had no power to oppose their decision. All he could do was complain, "In simple terms, you have all become puppets of the Celestial Dragons, riding on your heads."
"Watch your mouth, Sengoku!" the Five Elders scolded. "What about Kazun's situation?"
Upon seeing this scene, Akainu's excitement about becoming Fleet Admiral disappeared instantly, replaced by frustration.
What is your face worth? The Marines are nothing more than the face of the World Government... These two sentences trampled on his personal dignity and the glory of the Marine's justice.
Is this what he had always aspired to be as Fleet Admiral?
Is this all a Fleet Admiral can do?
He originally thought that the Five Elders chose him to be Fleet Admiral because they valued his abilities and valued him as a person.
But is this the result?
Akainu's face turned gloomy as he watched the projection.
The feelings of the others were not much different from Akainu's. The sentence "Marines are nothing more than the face of the government" directly devalued the things they had been striving to uphold and believe in.
Is this the Five Elders?
Is this how the World Government sees the Marines?
Suppression and anger lingered in their hearts.
Then, when they heard the Five Elders mention Aokiji, also known as Aokiji, everyone looked at him curiously. They were curious about what happened to Admiral Aokiji after he left the Marines. They had heard that he had lost a leg, but he should be fine.
Aokiji himself also looked over curiously.
In the projection, the Five Elders continued, "How can the Marines talk about dignity when someone with such formidable combat power is now standing with Blackbeard?"
As soon as these words came out, the entire Marine Headquarters was in an uproar. Not only that, people all over the world who saw this scene were also shocked and astonished.
Admiral Aokiji actually left the Marines and joined the Blackbeard Pirates after the Battle of the Admirals?!
How is that possible?!
Yet they saw it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears. The Five Elders spoke these words, which meant that after becoming one of the Four Emperors, Blackbeard had gained another Admiral as his subordinate. How formidable was the strength of the Blackbeard Pirates?!
Suddenly, everyone turned their gaze to Aokiji. They never expected that the most affable Admiral, Aokiji, would join the Blackbeard Pirates. Even if he lost to Akainu, he should never stoop so low!
At this moment, Aokiji also had a bewildered expression. Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
He never expected
that he would become a pirate, let alone follow that guy, Blackbeard. How could this be?
Sengoku also looked at Aokiji with a shocked and serious expression and asked, "Why?"
Aokiji scratched his head with a wry smile and said, "I also want to know why."
"Aokiji, even if you are dissatisfied with that guy Akainu becoming Fleet Admiral, you shouldn't do such a thing. If you do, I will be the first to capture you and throw you into Impel Down. Don't blame me for being heartless!" Garp warned Aokiji with a serious expression.
"I understand, Mr. Garp. If that really happens, then I'll rely on you to stop me," Aokiji nodded, feeling overwhelmed by the situation.
Just moments ago, he was contending for the position of Fleet Admiral with Akainu, and now he had joined the Blackbeard Pirates as a pirate. The gap between being a Marine Admiral and a pirate was too vast. This sudden change almost gave him a headache.
"You better remember this, no matter what happens, I don't want to see you go astray," Garp reminded him. Aokiji had been under Garp's command and they were both teacher and friend. He didn't want to see Aokiji walking down this path of no return.
Sengoku also looked deeply at Aokiji, his thoughts unclear.
Aokiji's words relieved the surrounding Marines. They didn't want to believe that Admiral Aokiji would become a pirate. It seemed too far-fetched.
Meanwhile, in the East Blue, the Straw Hat Pirates were also watching the projection.
They saw their future selves and witnessed Aokiji falling from one bath to another.
This embarrassed Zoro and Sanji, as people from all over the world were watching this scene. Fortunately, their crucial parts were mosaic-ed, so the details couldn't be seen.
Luffy, on the other hand, didn't pay much attention to it. He was more interested in the fact that there was a skeleton with them in the bath. His eyes lit up, finding it amusing.
Does a skeleton bathing turn into bone broth?
Could this skeleton be his future crewmate?
The appearance of the Straw Hat Pirates surprised everyone. They didn't expect Aokiji to encounter them after leaving the Marines.
What was the reason?
Did Aokiji receive orders from Blackbeard to capture them?
Everyone looked at them curiously, wanting to know what would happen next.
The Straw Hat Pirates realized that the Marine Admiral they were bathing with was Aokiji, and they were shocked.
They quickly assumed defensive postures.
However, Aokiji lazily leaned on the bath and said, "At this point, I won't go after you guys. I am no longer a Marine Admiral... You all know that."
Upon hearing this, everyone at Marine Headquarters turned their gaze towards Aokiji. It was just as they had heard from Aokiji himself earlier. Aokiji had left Marine Headquarters.
And now, they began to wonder if the news of Aokiji joining the Blackbeard Pirates was true after all!
Everyone looked at Aokiji with solemn expressions, and Aokiji himself felt terrible at that moment. He couldn't understand how he ended up joining the Blackbeard Pirates.
The skeleton in the projection asked, "Then who exactly are you?"
"Who am I?" Aokiji pondered for a moment. "Although I don't really want to be asked by a skeleton, am I a righteous comrade who resigned as an Admiral? No, what am I?"
Upon hearing Aokiji's words, many people in the projection fell silent. They couldn't believe that an Admiral would one day betray justice.
"That's enough. I don't want to interfere with your affairs now. Just think about it. If I wanted to interfere, I wouldn't be waiting for you in a hot spring where I can't use my abilities."
"Waiting for us?" Sanji asked.
Aokiji didn't answer directly but said:
..... ... ....
"I don't want to faint again." Aokiji stood up from the hot spring, revealing his heavily burned right half of the body to everyone.
What shocked them even more was that Aokiji's exposed right leg was missing, replaced by a prosthetic made of ice that extended from his severed lower leg. It allowed him to still walk.
When Aokiji's appearance after the battle with Akainu was revealed to everyone, they fell silent. They couldn't believe the intensity of the fight between Aokiji and Akainu, even though they had heard about it before. Seeing it with their own eyes was another matter.
Could it be that Aokiji abandoned the Marines and joined the Blackbeard Pirates because his leg was broken by Akainu? Did he want to seek revenge through the Blackbeard Pirates?
Many people entertained this thought, especially after seeing the injuries on Aokiji's body. Even Aokiji himself began to doubt.
Perhaps there are things I don't know... Aokiji shook his head.
Now that all the images related to the ten questions have been shown, everyone was waiting for Luo Kei to distribute the rewards, curious about what it would be.
Unexpectedly, after Aokiji, the scene switched to another location, the Hall of Power, with the faces of the Five Elders appearing before everyone.
Then a knock on the door sounded, and a person wearing a black robe entered from outside.
The Five Elders looked at the newcomer and asked, "What brings you here? You shouldn't involve yourself in politics during the World Conference."
"Because it's you, we made time."
The people watching this scene were curious about who the Five Elders were meeting. But when the person spoke, the expressions of everyone in front of the projection changed dramatically.
Civilians, Marines, pirates... All widened their eyes.
That familiar voice, could it be...
"I know, thank you very much."
Following that, the person in the black robe took a seat, and their face appeared on the projection.
It was none other than the Yonko of the New World, the captain of the Red Hair Pirates, Shanks!
"It's about a certain pirate." The scene froze on Shanks' face, abruptly ending.
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=> The day of studying in Hogwarts.
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(End of this chapter)